Feb 26, 2015

Loot Crate Munny Contest

Loot Crate brought its subscribers a Mini Munny as part of February’s Play crate. Now, kings of the monthly box of awesome are sponsoring a Munny Contest, asking fans to customize a Mini Munny and enter it into one of several fun categories, by submitting a pic of the finished piece by the March 20th deadline. The categories range from specific themes (Hero/Villain, Best Lookalike, Best Videogame) to materials/methods used (Best Fashionable, Best Modified, Most Resourcful, etc.). The contest will be judged by an industry panel from several brands including Kidrobot (Frank Kozik), IGN, iam8bit, Nerdist, Meltdown, and more. In the spirit of democracy, the public can vote for their favorite customs as well.

The winner of each category will receive a prize pack slightly tailored to the category. In addition, there’s a sweet prize pack for the entry that receives the most fan votes ($500, 1 Year of Loot Crates, Looter Tee, Super iam8bit and Hohokum Almanac books, plus a 7” munny) and another for the Judges Pick which is similar but swaps out the $500 for a $100 Amazon card and trims the subscription to 6 months.

Jan 28, 2015

Kidrobot Welcomes Customs, Not Bootlegs

Long overdue, Kidrobot has r eleased an official statement addressing bootlegging in which they make clear that they welcome and support customization of their various toys (including their popular Dunny and Munny platforms), but will actively seek to prevent bootlegging—the un-authorized duplication of their toys.

While the distinctions can get blurry, our interpretation of the statement is that artists/collectors/fans who purchase a Kidrobot figure can do to it as they see fit, and can release limited series of “Dunnys”, “Munnys” or what have you as long as a production vinyl figure is used for each piece. However, the duplication or reproduction of a Kidrobot toy will be viewed negatively, as an infringement of the brand’s intellectual property, and will be subject to corrective action. Or put another way, paint, cut, and add to their toys, but don’t make molds and cast your own copies of KR figures. Additionally, don’t create and sell from “scratch” versions of “Dunnys” (as an example) as these will likely be considered bootlegs; each piece does not include one of KR’s production toys. Again, this is our interpretation of the statement, if you’re in doubt please reach out to Kidrobot for clarification.

From our perspective, this policy is sensible, allowing artistic creativity, while protecting the financial investment and rights of Kidrobot and the artists they work with. Frankly, we’ve been surprised that Kidrobot has until now, turned a bllind-eye to bootlegs, such as resin Dunnys.

Perhaps as equally important as the basic policy is the fact that Kidrobot is open to working with artists who would like to pursue projects which involve duplicating production toys, under a licensing arrangement. In fact, Mikie Graham worked with Kidrobot on this type of arrangement for his sweet Halloween Dunnys. Additionally, the re-born KR is actively working with and promoting customizers.

Dec 30, 2014

Huck Gee – End of Year Sale

Before he takes down and retools his website for the awesomeness he has locked in for 2015, Huck Gee is closing out 2014 with his ‘End of Year’ sale. Now through January 1st, you can save a hefty 35% off anything in his store. So if you’ve been thinking about pulling the trigger on a print, Tee, or something else – now is the time. Be sure to use the checkout code HAPPYNEWYEAR.

Dec 27, 2014

3DRetro – 25% Off After Xmas Sale

Looking to spend some of your holiday cash? It might pay to check out 3DRetro. Through this weekend they are running their After Xmas Sale with a cool 25% off everything in stock. Head on over to their site, pick out some tempting items and be sure to use the AFTERXMAS25 checkout code.

Dec 16, 2014

Dragatomi Closes Their Doors =(

We regret to inform you all that our favorite designer store in Sacramento, Dragatomi, will be closing their doors. With the success of their latest venture, they were left with a difficult decision to close up their brick and mortar store. Don’t worry, because they will still keep their online store afloat and they have also teamed up with Unseen Heroes as a satellite location with a small selection of items available. They will also continue having releases, signings, and shows at their location in the Broadway Triangle district of Sacramento. If you really miss seeing the friendly faces of Ray and Joanne, you can always find them touring around Sacramento in the Wandering Boba truck! Good luck Ray and Joanne!

Beginning now until December 24th, all remaining in-store merchandise will be 50% off, excluding original artworks.

Dec 04, 2014

De Korner – Holiday Sale + Mystery Boxes (Thru 12.20)

Did you miss out on the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals? Don’t fret. De Korner has Holiday Savings for you with two ways to get more for less. First, they are offering discounts (up to 50%) on select items including some strong older pieces including The Seeker by Jeff Soto, Dalek Teddy Troops and more.

Plus, they are continuing their Mystery Box Warehouse Sale. Each Mystery Box ($20, $30, $40, $50, $100, or $200) features items from their warehouse worth at least twice the purchase price, so a $20 box will get you toys valued at $40+.

Dec 01, 2014

myplasticheart – 20% Off for Cyber Monday (12.1)

myplasticheart is offering a special Cyber Monday promo – spend at least $100 and receive 20% off by using the checkout code CYBOMOMO. This deal excludes new releases, pre-orders and original art. The Cyber Monday deal runs through 12.1 @ 1 PM EST.

Nov 28, 2014

Black Friday Savings from Rotofugi

Looking to make your toy buying dollars go as far as possible? Rotofugi is offering a variety of Black Friday coupons good through Cyber Monday (12.1). If you spend $50 or more you can get free shipping by using the ‘FRIDAY50’ code. There are also discount codes depending on how much you spend (total before shipping and tax are added) – 10% off if you spend $100 or more with ‘FRIDAY100’, 15% off if you spend $150 or more with ‘FRIDAY150’ and a sweet 20% off if you spend $200 or more with ‘FRIDAY200’. These special coupons are good through 12.1 at 11:59 PM CST.

myplasticheart – Black Friday Sale

myplasticheart s tarted the savings rolling early with their Pre-Black Friday Sale which continues through Sunday (11.30). As in year’s past they are offering special savings (up to 50%) on select sale merchandise. There’s a nice variety to choose from including Micro Munnyworld DIYs, Dunnys, sofubi and more. Also, if you’re in NYC – you can take an additional 5% off in-store purchases on 11.28 as well as enjoy a buy 2 get 1 free blind-box deal.

Nov 26, 2014

De Korner – Black Friday Mystery Boxes + Sale

For Black Friday De Korner is offering two ways to stretch your toy buying dollars. First, they are offering 50%+ off select items. Second, they are offering Mystery Boxes featuring items worth at least double the price of the box. The five item box ($50) will have at least $100 worth of product while the ten item box ($100) will be valued at $200. Due to the size/weight, shipping for the Mystery boxes will run from $10 to $15. The Mystery Boxes and 50% off sale starts on 11.27 and runs through 12.1 at DeKorner.com.

Raffle to Benefit Nerviswr3k

Tragically, a member of Nerviswr3k’ s family recently passed away leaving a young daughter needing care and support. With the help of members of the community, Tenacious toys has put together a raffle to help the family in their time of need.

Available now through December 10th, each raffle ticket ($10 + s/h) will include a pack of 5 assorted stickers and one entry into the drawing for one of 15 donated prizes. Nerviswr3k will receive the full $10 for each raffle ticket sold. Each ticket is considered a separate entry –- buying multiple tickets therefore increases the odds of winning and purchasers of multiple tickets have the chance of winning more than one prize.

The sticker pack includes a mix featuring Nerviswr3k (printed by Renone), Abe Lincoln Jr., Tenacious Toys, as well as numerous stickers donated by the awesome people at Sticker Robot. Each pack will feature at least one Nerviswr3k sticker.

Winners of the raffle will be chosen randomly. The first winner will be notified and will be able to choose one of the 15 prizes. Subsequent winners will choose one prize from those that remain.

The raffle prizes include:

6-inch Beefy & Co Panda Plush (valued at $14)

11-inch Beefy & Co Unipoo Plush (valued at $25)

Beefy & Co Ghost Tribe Warrior gold/black colorway

Beefy & Co Ghost Tribe Warrior blue colorway

Custom Marshall by Taylor Lymberry

(4) different Custom Dunnys by Mike Die

Mask by Nerviswr3k

Nibirian Drones blind box by Nerviswr3k & We Are Not Toys

Tenacious Exclusive Blue MAD Modern Hero Bank (US winner only)

22" tokidoki Adios Star Pillow

5" tokidoki Donutella figure

Skull Burst Custom by Blazon Brikhaus

For the full info, please see the official raffle ticket purchase page over at Tenacious Toys. Please consider buying a raffle ticket/sticker pack to help out Nerviswr3k and his family.

MAD’s Black Friday Releases (11.28)

MAD has got some offerings for you this Black Friday! Looking to make your wall look pretty? MAD will be releasing a set of 4 of his Modern Heroes 17” prints. There are only 10 sets of these in existence and will retail $100 a set. MAD will also be releasing the Mystery Micro Mad*L Handmade resin figures. These will come blind bagged and will feature an array of different never released Micro MAD*Ls. These will be available first thing on Black Friday, November 28th at 12AM CST. There will only be 30 of these babies available!

Nov 19, 2014

Kidrobot Joins NECA

In breaking news, action figure brand NECA has purchased Kidrobot. According to the press release, Kidrobot will continue to create art toys as an autonomous company from their boulder offices guided by the one and only Frank Kozik as creative director.

“It's rare to have the opportunity to join forces with an artist-centric company like this," said Joel Weinshanker, COO of NECA. "We are doubly thrilled to be able to allow it to grow organically and flourish on its own, which is what we're certain it will do with the involvement of Frank Kozik as Creative Director."

"When Joel and NECA approached us about joining forces, about his intention to support us and allow Kidrobot to move forward with autonomy, I knew we had found the right partner," said Bob Africa, President of Kidrobot. "The timing of Frank agreeing to join us could not have been better and we are incredibly excited about Kidrobot's future."

This big and welcome move is a partial answer to the question on most of our minds, what would become of KR. We reached out to Frank about KR’s new direction and he replied simply and triumphantly, ‘WE WILL RAGE’. Here’s hoping that Kidrobot rages like never before and becomes a clever and innovative force in the toy world once again.

Sep 24, 2014

Touma Stickers on LINE

One of your favorite designer toy artists meets with one of the most popular text + call apps out there! A bunch of Touma’s characters are now available as stickers on LINE. There are a few to choose from, including Mao Cat and Danke Schoen, with a Knuckle Bears series in the works! You can find them available HERE and HERE for $0.99 or by searching “Touma”.

Sep 17, 2014

Switcheroo Studio Sale!

Amanda Visell and Michelle Valigura are having a studio sale in their Switcheroo webstore! There are a bunch of original artwork, long gone sold out toys, discounted items, as well as some goodies you may have missed! This sale will only be up for another day so check it out HERE.

Aug 31, 2014

myplasticheart –- Labor Day Blind Box Sale

Looking for more toy deals? If you need to fill in some missing holes in your mini-fig collection, myplasticheart is offering 20% off select blind box toys with their Labor Day Sale which runs through Monday (9.1). Drop by MPH’s blind box section to hunt for the deals – quite a few of the minis are available at the 20% discount.

Nathan Hamill – 15% Off Labor Day Sale

The holiday weekend continues with BBQs, trips to the beach and more tempting toy deals. If you’ve been looking to pick up a toy or two from Nathan Hamill, now is the time. He’s offering 15% off his entire online inventory through 11:59 PM on Monday evening (9.1). No code needed, just drop by his online store for 15% off Lavabear, Strife and Sire and more.

Aug 29, 2014

Huck Gee (Laborbear) is having a Labor Day Sale

Holiday weekends are awesome. Three days of relaxation plus choice discounts on cool toys and gear. Huck Gee (aka Laborbear) is celebrating with his very own Labor Day sale with 25% off through the Holiday (9.1). Be sure to shop at huckgee.com and enter the magic code, ‘Laborbear’, when you checkout.

Kidrobot –- Up to 80% Off Labor Day Sale

If you’ve been waiting for a chance to pick up some toys on the cheap, Kidrobot is celebrating Labor Day Weekend with a big sale on most of their online stock over at kidrobot.com. From a quick check, it looks like most items are now available at a substantial 50-80% off. And, if you order at least $100 of product, you’ll also receive free ground shipping. The sale runs through Labor Day (9.1). Stock up now.

Aug 13, 2014

Gary Baseman -- ‘Mythical Creatures’ Documentary on Kickstarter

The Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the completion of Gary Baseman’s‘Mythical Creatures’ documentary is in the home stretch seeking a $100,000 stretch goal before ending on Monday (8.18). The film relates and personalizes the tragic lessons of the Holocaust through his parents’ personal harrowing experiences and heroic struggle against the Nazis in part with allegorical animation featuring Baseman’s characters and creatures. The money raised will help fund a filmed visit to the hometown of Baseman’s parents (Modern-day Ukraine) which will see the creation of an art installation as well as post-production for the documentary.

There are plenty of tempting rewards for project backers including a signed Gary Baseman x Shepard Fairey Partisan print, several T-shirts, movie poster and perhaps of most interest to toy collectors, a 12” limited-edition Toby Doll ($150). This new Toby plush is a follow-up to the long since sold-out larger 16” version (2005). Head on over to the ‘Mythical Creatures’ Kickstarter to learn more about the film and all of the available rewards.

Jul 22, 2014

Funko x MINDstyle Strategic Alliance Begins With Pop! Asia

Funko and MiNDstyle have announced a strategic alliance covering Greater China and Southeast Asia. The collaboration will bring together FUNKO’s tremendous success with the Pop! Vinyl line, which has sold over 17 million figures in four years, and MINDstyle’s vast experience as a creative agency working with premiere entertainment properties. The brand new Pop! Asia line of designer toys is a part of the two brands’ efforts to offer collectibles and products in rapidly growing and lucrative markets.

Pop! Asia will debut an Aloha Plate 4-figure set, celebrating the Aloha Plate food truck, winners of Season 4 of Food Network’s The Great Food Truck Race. The Aloha Plate toys will be available at MINDstyle’s booth [#4845] and the Aloha Plate crew will be signing at the booth on Friday (7.25) at 12 PM. A second edition of the Aloha Plate figures will drop in September.

Jul 04, 2014

Kidrobot Not on the SDCC Exhibitor List ?

Kris, our hardworking contributor, noticed a curious and unsettling omission on the official SDCC 2014 exhibitor list in the K’s –- Kidrobot. That can’t be… or could it? Kidrobot has been making some major changes including closures of all their retail stores except for Boulder and San Francisco. There’s also an unconfirmed post on the KR forums which features a message from a KR employee indicating that Kidrobot will not have a booth but that that it will have a presence with exclusives offered from several booths.

What we do know, is that at least one vendor will have a high-profile KR SDCC exclusive. Beyond that, this post is speculation on our part driven by the the exhibitor list and the previously mentioned board posting.

If true, it’s hard to imagine SDCC without the Kidrobot booth, without a major presence from arguably the American pioneer in designer vinyl. It’s way too early to know what this possible development might mean for the larger scene and market, but it certainly doesn’t feel very good at the moment. We’re pulling for Kidrobot to redefine itself and to continue making awesome art toys and appealing licensed product.

Jul 01, 2014

Help CRAZEONE : Drawings for Donations

Artist CRAZEONE (Adam White) has faced a torrent of medical bills since his diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis and Paresthesias. In order to try to cope with his escalating expenses, he’s offering hand-drawn illustrations in exchange for donations of any amount. If you’d like you can ask him to draw something specific. Drawings will be mailed directly to donors. As a bonus, every donor will be included in a raffle for a large, framed, original piece. We’re troubled by Adam’s situation and impressed that he’s making the most of his talents to improve it. Please help Adam if you can and receive a heart-felt drawing.

Also, without going all Soap Box here, it’s a real shame that a major illness often puts people in this country in serious financial distress. My recent, in-comparison minor health issues made me thankful for the insurance I’m fortunate to have and troubled by the six-digit bill those who are uninsured would have been stuck with. Helping each other out is a small step towards tackling this beast.

Jun 10, 2014

Grizlli Atom –- OldOnes Instagram Giveaway

Griizlli Atom is running an Instagram Giveaway (thru 6.13) for five one-of-a-kind test pulls of his Oldones figures. If you love swirled, multi-hued toys, you’ll want to enter by reposting the pic above on Instagram and tagging it with @grizlli_atom and #oldonesfreeones.